A Moment Like This
by jeffthemermaid
Summary: *****ENDGAME SPOILERS***** A brief snapshot of Tony and Pepper's life while they're expecting. Set in canon time, during the five years between the Snaps in Endgame. Oneshot. Pepperony. All the feels if you know what happens in canon.


It was a wet and blustery day in the countryside. Rain fell heavily outside the sprawling house by the river. Further away whole towns were abandoned and desolate, but around the Stark home there were only tree's laden with colourful Autumn leaves, puddles, glistening green grass and stacks of firewood.

Inside, Pepper waddled into Tony's work room, still damp from a shower and clad in a fluffy bathrobe and slippers. She couldn't help the smile that lit up her face when Tony immediately stopped working on the invention in front of him and turned on his stool to greet her.

"There's my girls." Tony said warmly as he got up and wrapped his arms around his wife. Pepper chuckled and leaned into him, her arms around his waist as she rested her head on his strong shoulder. Tony held her tightly, drawing her narrow frame and the precious bundle growing inside her swollen belly as close to him as he could.

"Here we are." She replied before she gave him a sweet kiss and let him go. They both stood back and took a moment to drink in each other's appearance.

Pepper's heart practically glowed as she took in every inch of her husbands' appearance, from his filled in clothes to his shiny and healthy hair. He had almost entirely wasted away as he starved to near-death in space after the Snap. Now he was growing stronger every day, putting meat back on his bones and getting the sparkle back in his eyes.

Tony himself couldn't keep his eyes off of Pepper. Despite looking a little tired from the effort of growing a baby, she was obviously happy, healthy and every bit as beautiful as the day he'd met her. Today, eight and a half months pregnant with their child, her hair shone, her breasts were large, her skin glowed and her belly was swollen with the exciting new life that brought hope for their future.

Every day that Tony woke up beside Pepper he cherished her figure beside him, her warmth, her scent, the feel of her hand on his and her round belly against his hip. Every day he thanked whatever higher beings that were out there that she had survived the Snap and he could still hold her in his arms and tell her how much he loved her.

All of his grief over the loss against Thanos, the destroyed world, and most of all the kid, had only been bearable because he still had Pepper to love. And now he was going to have a tiny little girl to love and hold and cherish as much as her mother. He knew he was lucky to have a family in the wake of the tragedy that had struck the universe, but he wasn't going to waste time wondering if he deserved it, he was going to live in the moment and enjoy every second.

Pepper herself had genuinely believed that she lost Tony in the Snap. Her grief had been tantamount, and she had no idea how she would be able to cope or move on. Then she'd gotten him back, and he'd been so frail, broken and guilt stricken, but he was still Tony and once she had him back in her arms she'd been contented beyond imagination. Slowly she'd nursed him back to health, and the wonderful and welcome surprise of the baby growing in her belly was already helping them both heal from the grief they'd suffered since the snap. She loved him deeply, and their quiet wedding deep in the mountains with only their closest present had been the moment that she realized she knew her new purpose.

Just as Tony had stepped away from the Avengers, Pepper stepped away from her career. Both of them simply wanted to live their lives together, to the fullest. In the wake of such loss it seemed crazy to go back to life as it had been. It was time for a fresh start, and they found it in a beautiful house far away in the isolated countryside. They had each of their respective fortunes to live off, and even after donating considerable amounts of money to relief efforts after the Snap they would live more than comfortably for the rest of their lives and ensure a good future for their daughter.

They had become that sappy lovesick couple they used to make a mockery of, and neither cared. They couldn't get enough of one another. And spending their days walking in the woods, reading by the fire and cooking in the kitchen together was exactly what each of them wanted more than anything else.

"Shall I cook us some dinner sweetheart?" Tony asked after he'd finished drinking in every inch of his beautiful, bathrobe clad wife.

"Mmm, that sounds nice." Pepper said, taking his hand and pressing it to her lips. "But first do you want to cuddle on the sofa and listen to the rain?"

"Well, I'm pretty busy here." Tony began, smirking as he pretended to brush off his lover's suggestion. He laughed as Pepper pretended to pout, clung to his hand and stuck out her lower lip to summon his sympathy. "But I could probably fit you in."

He placed a kiss on Peppers' forehead and squeezed her hand tight before leading her into their living room. Soon they were curled up on their plush sofa, with the fire crackling in front of them and the rain pounding on the roof above them.

Pepper lay back against Tony, warm and happy with his arms wrapped around her, and her head on his chest as he lay back on the sofa's comfortable armrest. He stroked her large belly gently, both of them smiling when their baby responded to her father's touch with the occasional hearty kick. They lay together peacefully, far from the pain in the world and surrounded in blissful isolation.

Pepper hummed softly as Tony softly massaged her skin and closed her eyes, relaxed in the safe embrace of husband.

"We're so lucky." Tony said quietly, his hands moving to cradle the top of Pepper's tummy where their unborn child had begun kicking lightly. "We're gonna be so lucky to have you, Morgan."


End file.
